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Old 01-20-2013, 10:00 AM   #1
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extended subfreezing temperatures

We are first time RV owners seeking some advice. We decided to head south with our "new to us" 2011 Sunseeker 2400 rather than deal with winterizing. We are currently enjoying sunshine in Arizona.

This winter has proven to be a record setting one for cold temperature at home, however... high temperatures have not risen above freezing for weeks and lows are dipping into negative numbers regularly. Average January temperature is like 8°!

We didn't intend to head home until spring but recently discovered that we have big problems to deal with at home.... underground septic system drainage pipes at our house have frozen solid... And a leaky toilet valve resulted in upstairs flooding! In addition, our hot tub is frozen solid. First homeowners claim we've had to make...22 years in same house!

We plan to learn how to winterize our RV (or have it done) and head home this week to deal with things.... but I worry that the extreme temperatures at home may cause other damage to our RV as well. Will winterizing the plumbing take care of all vulnerable components? We hope to head south again as soon as things are cleaned up and stable...would it make more sense to leave our Rv in storage here rather than risk adding it to our cold weather damages? We are about 700 miles from home and that distance in our toad would not be very comfortable...but something we could consider.

Any other advice?

BTW- Any ideas about thawing underground drainage pipes or hottubs? I think we are going to have to wait for spring and it is a ways off yet!
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Old 01-20-2013, 10:36 AM   #2
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As long as your unit is properly winterized you should have no trouble. IE all the lines either blown out or filled with RV antifreeze, hot water heater drained, all your tanks emptied as well as LP (low point) drains opened to drain them and then reclosed before you do the RV antifreeze and rv antifreeze poured down all the drains to fill the P traps and some in the toilet bowl to keep the seal wet. Do a search on here for winterizing and you should find some good instructions as I have even posted a pdf from my dealer on winterizing a year or so ago. And not to worry about the cold. We routinely go down into the -30's here and stay there for weeks on end and never an issue.
Here is the link to my post on winterizing
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...sics-9447.html
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Old 01-20-2013, 10:48 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by TheSasks View Post
As long as your unit is properly winterized you should have no trouble. IE all the lines either blown out or filled with RV antifreeze, hot water heater drained, all your tanks emptied as well as LP dains done before
What do we have to do to the LP?
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Old 01-20-2013, 10:48 AM   #4
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Old 01-20-2013, 10:54 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cllecr View Post
What do we have to do to the LP?
I updated my original post to read a bit better and included the link to the winterizing pdf I posted as well.
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Old 01-20-2013, 07:00 PM   #6
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Don't know what your toad is but I would leave the RV in the south and take the toad back. I assume it would get much better mileage and since you are only planning to be back home for a short time. Also you won't subject your RV to winter salt and slop which will do it no good.
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Old 01-20-2013, 11:21 PM   #7
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Another thing we do is empty the rv of any stuff sensitive to freezing temps. I.e., any liquid products, etc. we honestly go through every storage bin, cupboard, drawer, etc. figure it's better to err on the side of caution.
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Old 01-21-2013, 08:53 AM   #8
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Also certain TVs and computers screens can't handle the cold. I believe those called LCD (liquid crystal display) can be damaged at severe temps but LED types are ok.
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Old 01-22-2013, 05:27 PM   #9
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Just to clarify. LED TV's and LCD TV's are BOTH LCD screen TV's.

The difference is LED TV's are "backlit" using LED's. Whereas old style LCD TV's use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps. Screens are the same...lighting is different. Most modern day LCD's are rated for pretty cold temps.
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Old 01-22-2013, 05:45 PM   #10
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Just to clarify. LED TV's and LCD TV's are BOTH LCD screen TV's.

The difference is LED TV's are "backlit" using LED's. Whereas old style LCD TV's use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps. Screens are the same...lighting is different. Most modern day LCD's are rated for pretty cold temps.
Gotta say seeing the phrase "old style LCD TV's" is funny!!!
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Old 01-22-2013, 06:20 PM   #11
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My kids look at tube tv's with disgust. Like it's some deformed animal.
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Old 01-22-2013, 07:39 PM   #12
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Gotta say seeing the phrase "old style LCD TV's" is funny!!!
No kidding right! This last "Black Friday" I bought my very first LCD from an online retailer BH Photo at an excellent shipped price. I can't believe I have waited for so long to do it.

I plan to remove the LCD from my TT as well during the winter.
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Old 01-22-2013, 08:41 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bclemens View Post
Just to clarify. LED TV's and LCD TV's are BOTH LCD screen TV's.

The difference is LED TV's are "backlit" using LED's. Whereas old style LCD TV's use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps. Screens are the same...lighting is different. Most modern day LCD's are rated for pretty cold temps.
Yep, just leave the TVs in unless temps will go below -30 degrees (without wind chill). Wind chill not applicable since TVs won't be in the wind and have no skin to speak of.
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Old 01-22-2013, 11:09 PM   #14
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Think I would just take the toad home it would save you a lot of worry and the bother of winterizing, and good luck with the freezing problems, I always turn the water off at the main since the head broke on the water softener.
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Old 01-24-2013, 08:00 AM   #15
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Thanks for all the great advice and cautions...especially the reminder to check cupboards and storage for freezeable liquids... And to check our TV screen!
We decided to go ahead and winterize... and now we are staying a few more days with friends here in 80° Phoenix as the clean up process at home is going so slowly in frigid temps...will head back this weekend, meet with adjuster next week. Frozen underground septic pipe may not thaw till spring. Luckily does not affect whole house so we do have water/plumbing! At this rate, no telling how long we will need to be there to get the project finished, tho, so I guess our snowbird plans are officially on hold.
Our first time winterizing... ended up using the 5 gallons of antifreeze poured directly in freshwater tank and pumped through system as there is no siphon hose on the water pump and we would have to have one installed in the line. Couldn't get the anode tube out of the hot water heater yet...drained it from the bottom, tho, and bypassed it. Imagine the anode rod needs to come out to complete the draining?
Now thinking about washing/washing before we head home. Another first (waxing) with lots of choices! What kind of finish is our 2011 sunseeker 2400? (White fiberglass walls with decals). Apparently some waxes not good on some finishes?
There sure are a lot of things to learn as new RV owners..!!
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Old 01-24-2013, 08:28 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by cllecr View Post
Our first time winterizing... ended up using the 5 gallons of antifreeze poured directly in freshwater tank and pumped through system as there is no siphon hose on the water pump and we would have to have one installed in the line. Couldn't get the anode tube out of the hot water heater yet...drained it from the bottom, tho, and bypassed it. Imagine the anode rod needs to come out to complete the draining?
If you did not get the anode out; how did you drain it? Using the plumbing to drain the hot water heater has risks. Bits of anode (a normal process) and calcium deposits can get swept into the cold water pipes when using the low point drains to drain the hot water heater.

When you hook up fresh water in the spring, that rubbish in the pipes can be pushed into faucets and the flush valve on the toilet causing low pressure and flush problems.

I would not use that technique next year.

Close the bypass system first, then using the appropriate socket, extension, and wrench to remove the anode and using a flush wand made for flushing out the heater (or a homemade one, like the photo) flush out the garbage from the bottom of the water heater.
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Old 01-24-2013, 08:46 AM   #17
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My DH and a friend who used to have an RV decided they could do it, by the time I arrived they said they couldn't get the "drain" open (what size socket is needed? 1"?)... So they drained it the hard way (indicating low point drain underneath). We even went out and bought a socket (thought we saw 7/8 needed somewhere)...so that didn't work.

Any way to flush that gunk out of the system to prevent potential low pressure problems?
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Old 01-24-2013, 11:17 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by cllecr View Post
Thanks for all the great advice and cautions...especially the reminder to check cupboards and storage for freezeable liquids... And to check our TV screen!
We decided to go ahead and winterize... and now we are staying a few more days with friends here in 80° Phoenix as the clean up process at home is going so slowly in frigid temps...will head back this weekend, meet with adjuster next week. Frozen underground septic pipe may not thaw till spring. Luckily does not affect whole house so we do have water/plumbing! At this rate, no telling how long we will need to be there to get the project finished, tho, so I guess our snowbird plans are officially on hold.
Our first time winterizing... ended up using the 5 gallons of antifreeze poured directly in freshwater tank and pumped through system as there is no siphon hose on the water pump and we would have to have one installed in the line. Couldn't get the anode tube out of the hot water heater yet...drained it from the bottom, tho, and bypassed it. Imagine the anode rod needs to come out to complete the draining?
Now thinking about washing/washing before we head home. Another first (waxing) with lots of choices! What kind of finish is our 2011 sunseeker 2400? (White fiberglass walls with decals). Apparently some waxes not good on some finishes?
There sure are a lot of things to learn as new RV owners..!!

Not something I would ever do since draining and flushing the tank of antifreeze is hard to do completely. However without disconnecting the pump inlet piping to drain it there isn't much else you could do. I installed a three way valve and siphon hose so it could be drained and serve as a point to supply the antifreeze.
You also should air blow or hand pump antifreeze in through the city water connection as the on board pump will not pump back through it. Maybe you could push something into it to unseat the backflow check valve and get back flow of antifreeze out through it.
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Old 01-24-2013, 11:23 AM   #19
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Also certain TVs and computers screens can't handle the cold. I believe those called LCD (liquid crystal display) can be damaged at severe temps but LED types are ok.
We've never removed any of our televisions or electronics and we live in Wisconsin. it was -9 here yesterday morning. They're fine as long as you let them warm up before using them.
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Old 01-24-2013, 11:41 AM   #20
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Wow.... thought we had pretty much followed directions in the manual for winterizing (except for not being able to get the anode out of the hot water heater). Now it seems what we did was not advised on several levels. Should we open low point drains and drain the antifreeze out of the tank? Will we be able to get the antifreeze flushed out so we can drink fresh water from the tank again?? And why didn't the manual say anything about running antifreeze through the plumbing from the city water connection??
Also, could we have just disconnected a hose to the water pump and attached a siphon hose? Didn't see anything anywhere explaining how to do this, if so...
Beginning to wonder if we will actually ever get this stuff figured out before we ruin something.
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